


The Metier

by DirectionOfTime



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: A delicious problem, Garak can only offer so much subtext, Julian is an oblivious idiot, M/M, Sisko finally reaches his limite, They just can't stop pushing buttons, Wow the Federation needs to get its shit together
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-24
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2018-12-19 13:23:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11898636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DirectionOfTime/pseuds/DirectionOfTime
Summary: Bashir, whilst on a mission to the gamma quadrant with Dax and Kira, finds a lone alien on an otherwise deserted moon, after helping them repair their runabout she agrees to come back to DS9 for a few days. Julian's just happy to have someone new and fascinating to talk to, especially since Garak has suddenly stopped give him the time of day.To her, humans are honest, generous and strange - especially their Captain, who can be in two physical places at once, apparently, from completely different places in time.





	1. Things Near and Far

**Author's Note:**

> The initial premise for this story was going to be for Voyager (which I dreamt up about 10 years ago lol) but I recently rediscovered it in my old files and thought I could rework it for something for DS9. Where the hell this will go, how it will go, or how well I can managed to execute it, I really have no idea!
> 
> If it's terrible, then I'll apologise in advance! But I'm trying to get my love of writing back and right now this is working for me, so I'm going to write first and ask questions later!

**The Métier // 01 // Things Near And Far**

  
****

“And? What did you think?” Julian asked hurriedly, stuffing another mouthful of food in, “I though’d you’d prefer the more cerebral, reflective take the author had for his character rather than focusing on action,”

“I think you should slow down before you choke,” Garak replied, 

“Can’t, sorry, mission, gotta be at runabout pad C in… _twelve minutes!”_ He hadn’t realised it was quite so late and jammed the last of the food on his plate into his mouth,

“Really, Doctor…” Garak sighed, placing his fork down on the edge of his plate, put off his own food at Bashir’s gauche table manners, “So what is this mission you’re going on?”

“Into the Gamma Quadrant, we’re trying to find some samples of the compound in ketracel white, we want to try and see if we can create our own version,”

“Interesting… thinking about contaminating samples and crippling the Jem’Hadar?”

“Well, that would be our end goal,” They rose from the table and returned their trays to the replicator before walking down the corridor, “But that’s a bit ambitious at the moment, I really want a better understanding of how the white works, I’ve only ever been able to simple scans and I really don’t understand much about the compound,” 

“Well, I suppose then my analysis of Monte Cristo will have to wait for your return,”

“I suppose so,” Bashir agreed with a good natured smile, “I can’t wait to hear it, I am sorry I was late to lunch, trying to pack everything I’ll need and make sure my staff are up to speed on the analysis that need watching and the regular patient schedules, not to mention that I needed to make sure that—”

“Has anyone ever told you, Doctor that you sound like a mother regnar with her first clutch of young?”

“No, Garak, I can honestly say that’s the first time anyone has ever said that to me,” Bashir replied, unable to keep the grin off his face at the image.

“Well, I suppose I should say goodbye, here, Doctor, good luck with your mission and I promise I will find you a sumptuous read for when you return!” 

“I look forward to it,” Bashir replied, “Hopefully we won’t be gone too long, bye!” Bashir hurried off down the promenade to where Kira and Dax were stood impatiently waiting for him,  


“Come on, Julian, we haven’t got all day!” Dax called out, 

“Sorry, sorry,” He breathed as he got closer,

“I know your lunch dates are important to you, but this mission _was_ your idea the least you could do is show up on time,” Kira chided humorously, 

“They’re not _dates_ ,” Bashir rebutted, an offended frown marring his brow, missing the look Kira shot at Jadzia as they boarded the runabout, “We were discussing the Count of Monte Cristo,”

“Who?” Kira asked as she took a seat at the helm and began unlocking the consoles and conducting the pre-flight checks,

“It’s a book,”

“All systems look normal, Dax?”

Jadzia was sat next to her, her hands dancing over the control panel, “We’re good here,”

“Rio Grande to Ops, checks have been completed and we’re ready to depart,” 

“Okay, Major, you’re free to go.” O’Brien’s voice called back, “Good luck,” His dead-pan voice was unmistakable as the comm line dropped out and the bay doors opened as the launch pad rose. The runabout took off and turned in a graceful arc towards the opening wormhole. 

Garak paused by a window to watch as the great anomaly opened wide, swallowed the little ship and then closed again, showing nothing but ordinary space to naked eyes. It was going to be a long, boring couple of weeks.

 

**§**

 

“Who’s there?” 

She was watching him from a great height, securely hidden in the branches; the day had broken slowly and she hadn’t slept a wink in trying to keep an eye on the stranger, the dark of both his uniform and his skin made him difficult to pick out in the twilight, along with his slow and steady movements — the only thing she had to go on was the difficult to distinguish pale strip covering his shoulders.“Show yourself. I can detect your life-signs on my scanning device, I know that you are within a twenty metre radius,” He slowed to a complete halt and raised both of his hands, one was indeed holding a strange metallic object, “I mean you no harm, I wish only to speak with you,” She decided that complete anonymity was obviously now impossible,

“Why?” He lifted his head slightly, but he didn’t look directly at her — she shrank back a little covering more of herself with the surrounding leaves,

“You are the only humanoid life-sign on this moon, other than myself and my two teammates, why?”

“You’ve crashed here and are apparently trapped…”

“That is correct,” A sudden wind whipped up and rustled the leaves, momentarily allowing both strangers a clear look at each other, “I mean you no harm,” His face was very passive and displayed no sign of threat or 

“You say that, but on what grounds can I trust you?”

“If there are only the four of us on the moon, what could I possibly gain from injuring or killing you?” She thought for a moment, he had a point, but it wasn’t quite sharp enough,

“I have often found people to be erratic, and reasons for their actions can been hidden, confusing…you may have some objective I cannot see,” 

The man seemed to nod slowly, “Your logic is sound however, I am telling the truth when I say I have no hostile intention towards you, I am a Doctor, from Starfleet and all Starfleet officers’ first duty is to preserve all life.”

“Why should I trust you?”

“I appreciate that the situation is difficult for you, but I am at a disadvantage, I do not know this moon and I have no means of escape — it would not be in my interest to attack you,”

“But it might be in your interest to deceive me,”

“For what purpose?” She shifted quickly and near silently, across to another tree, on the opposite side of the man, he made no move to show that he had sensed her movement,

“The vessel that crashed, it’s too small for serious interstellar travel…that must mean that either you live nearby, but, then again, I don’t recognise your species…so maybe, you have a mother-ship within safe distance?”

“Your logic is excellent, I am from a space-station in the alpha quadrant, we’ve come through the wormhole — but I cannot contact them at this time, there appears to be some form of radiation interfering with the ship’s sensors and my communications device, which was why I took a shuttle down to the surface,”

“What were you looking for?”

“A chemical compound called yridium bicantizine,”

“That’s a very rare susbstance,” The voice called back from yet another position, “Have you detected it here?”

“Well… we have detected a type of fungus which we know it can be extracted from.”

“It is an important resource for you?”

“It… is, sort of,” Bashir hedged, 

“So because you could sense the fungus, you had a right to take it?”

“Had we known the planet was inhabited, we would have either asked for permission for a trade, or we would have left entirely,”

“…What will you do now?” Her patterned eyes watching him carefully as he swivelled in a slow circle, apparently still unsure of exactly where she was hiding,

“I will be making attempts to contact my station for rescue…and, if you do not object, we would like to collect some samples,” 

She cocked her head slightly, “…And if I _do_ object?”

“Then we will leave you in peace,” Bashir wasn’t sure what to make of the woman he was speaking with — for his clearly unwelcome presence, she was certainly being calm and collected, he had expected immediate attack or complete silence, although there was no reason not to still anticipate such actions,

“I find that hard to believe — why go to so much trouble of you’re prepared to give up so easily?” He voice was just as calm as her logic,

“I follow the rules and customs of my station and of Starfleet — these rules are based on a strict policy of non-interference of other cultures, it is that prevents us from stealing property and resources as well,” She nodded slowly, unbeknownst to the man close to her,

“Can there be a culture of one?” Bashir couldn’t help but cock his head slightly in automatic curiosity of such a question, but his more pressing situation overrode it,

“As much as I would like to discuss philosophy with you, I do not think that this is either the time or the place,” The tricorder in his hand suddenly beeped and flashed, “It appears that there is an electromagnetic storm brewing…”

“Yes, they’re common here, you’d better hurry back to your shuttle,”

“Do you have adequate shelter from the storm?”

“Would we be talking if I didn’t?” 

Bashir offered a strange, acknowledging nod of approval, before he stepped forward, heading back towards his shuttle, 

“I would like to speak with you again,” He didn’t bother to turn around to face the woman he’d barely caught a glimpse of,

“…I’ll still be watching,” A sudden flash and a sharp crackle of the storm halted all further communication between them as he darted over to the battered runabout and closed the hatch, immediately settling himself at the controls to attempt to strengthen the already weak craft, his mind pleasingly buzzed with the curious conversation he’d shared with the stranger.

It didn’t take long for Kira and Jadzia to return, the Major, unsurprisingly was swearing almost as fiercely as the storm was raging. “Too far to make it back in time, huh?” Julian said, thoroughly amused by their dishevelled appearances and ill tempers.

“How did you guess?” Kira snapped back as Jadzia closed the shuttle doors behind them and combed her fingers through her windswept hair, 

“Find anything interesting?”

“You might say that… I had quite an interesting conversation,”

“With who?” She took a seat beside Julian, “All scans showed this planet was uninhabited,”

“I know, but she very definitely spoke to me, though I only caught a glimpse — I think she’s able to mask her lifesigns,”

“Does she live here? Is this her homeworld?”

“I don’t know, we didn’t get that far… she's very clever, she’s all ready assessed the runabout and guessed that it was a short range-vessel, she was very wary but she seemed more interested in figuring us out rather than attacking,”

“Well, that’s a relief!” Jadzia deadpanned, glancing back at Kira. "Maybe that means there's at least one species in this god-forsaken quadrant who doesn't want us dead at first sight. We can’t do anything until the storm blows itself out, anyway, so we’ll have to wait and see,” She began tinkering with the control panel in front of her, though the communication’s array was in tatters and sensors were on their last legs — thankfully life support, lighting and replicators were largely undamaged — the only stroke of luck on this infernal mission.

**…**

For the next day, the storm raged with little sign of letting up — there was a break of about two hours at dawn, but since then they had been bumped and bashed around inside the vulnerable runabout; as the storm continued, the more damage was rendered upon the craft, something painfully cumulative whilst they were prevented from making repairs. Bashir did, however, take as many notes as he was able on his initial observations of the moon and his apparent “companion”; she was of no species that he recognised, though he'd only managed a glimpse. Much of the vegetation on the moon was difficult to identify too, but it was prolific and a humid atmosphere had greeted him as soon as he’d exited his doomed vehicle, the sky was a strange, pale purple with a parent, ringed planet clear — even during the day — as well as seven other sister moons.The gravity was heavier by some degrees than _DS9_ but it was still bearable by most humanoid standards. 

Impatiently they waited and after almost thirty hours, the storm finally settled enough that they ventured outside, finding as much destruction as has anticipated. By then, though they were just glad for some fresh air and to have more than five meters between each other. Many of the trees and bushes had been torn from the ground and lay strewn about and over the battered runabout.Fishing out his tricorder, Bashir found that it managed to scan further than when he’d tried just before the storm, it had apparently cleared the air, the alien was almost two kilometres away, close to a water source.

“What do you say we go and greet our host properly?”

“You guys go, I need to make a start on trying to repair the runabout,” Jadzia was already opening a panel on the outside and checking the connections,

“No, we shouldn’t split up now we know this planet is inhabited, we can’t say that she’s the only one here,” Kira replied, 

“Do you want to get off this planet or not? I need to make a start whilst the weather’s clear before it starts up again, we can’t guarantee how much time we have,” Jadiza argued, “Besides, she wasn’t violent with you yesterday, she didn’t even threaten you, right? You two go — I’ll keep my eyes open and the tricorder scanning, I can always take refuge in here if I really have to,”

Kira took a breath, obviously not pleased, “All right, I guess you have a point, Doctor Bashir and I will go, take a _quick_ look around and talk to her if we can then we come back.”

 

“Hello?” Bashir called out, the water source was a large lake, still and dark; the vegetation grew thickly around it, “We just want to talk to you, if that’s okay?” 

“I see you brought a friend today,” The voice called from somewhere up in the canopy, 

“I’m his commanding officer, actually,” Kira replied, unimpressed at the assumption. 

“Interesting. You aren’t of the same species, you wear different uniforms… I assume you aren’t part of the same organisational structure, how does it work that you command him?”

“That’s, ah, complicated to answer right now, can we talk face to face? I’m curious to know, are you the only one on this moon? Do you own it? Does your species or your organisational structure own it?” Kira asked, here eyes searching in vain for the voice’s owner.

“Yes, no and no. I crashed here too, a few months ago,”

“Oh? If we can manage to fix our shuttle, we’ll be happy to help you off this planet — and take you wherever you need to go,” 

“A generous offer, but I think that might be a bit difficult,”

“Why?” Kira asked, 

“My home space is about forty thousand light years from here, but I’m not all that keen on going back, not yet, anyway.”

“What? How did you get here?”

“It’s the type of space travel we use, very different from yours, but I’m not worried about fixing it yet.”

“You don’t want to get off this planet? Aren’t you lonely? Are you sure you have enough food and clothing and medical supplies?” Bashir asked,

“That isn’t much of a concern and I like the quiet… having a moon to myself, my people are numerous, noisy, bossy,”

Kira couldn’t help the smile that reached lips, “Yeah, I guess I can understand that, often thought about running away to an uninhabited planet for some peace and quiet myself once or twice… but maybe you’ll want to leave one day, why don’t we help each other and you’ll then have the means of leaving here when you’re ready to. We don’t want to force you and we’re not going to kidnap you, we just… want to get home and if we can help you in the process, then all the better,” 

The alien appeared behind them, her face a mix of greens and blacks before it shifted to a dusky colour like Bashir’s then pale like Kira’s; she settled on a wam grey which they assumed to be her natural tone. Her forehead was high that ended in small horn like projections in line above her eyes. Her clothing held a formality, decorated with insignias that formed a clasp to keep her long sleeved tunic closed. Her hair was long and straight, held in a loose queue at the back with two tied strands over the front of her shoulders. She had a weapon of some sort on her belt.

“That seems like a reasonable offer to me,” She said, she was a little taller than Kira and carried more muscle on her frame; “I am Yiraia,”

“Major Kira Nerys,”

“Doctor Julian Bashir,” He greeted warmly and they made their way to the runabout, she remained fairly quiet, asking in-depth questions about their station and command structure of which Julian was more than happy to oblige and she listened patiently.

"So you're from the beta quadrant?" Kira changed the subject, 

"In your tongue, yes," Yiraia answered, "Though for me, it is the alpha quadrant,"

"How long did you have to travel to get way out here?" Kira asked,

"We can fold space, the travel doesn't take any time, but its very inefficient for us, our engines can burn themselves out after a long trip," Yiraia explained simply,

"Is that why you crashed?" 

"Partly..." 

"Partly?" Kira asked a smile finding its way to her lips, "That 'partly' wouldn't refer to your people being so noisy and bossy, would it?"

Yiraia regarded her carefully, "Partly."

“It should be just up ahead, our other team member is Jadzia Dax, our science officer, you’ll like her,” Bashir cut in as they walked through the fallen trees and made it to the runabout just in time to hear Jadzia swearing foully and slamming her hand agains the side of vessel.

“Ah… Jadzia,” 

“What?” She snapped, turning around she saw their guest, “Oh, I mean, hi,”

“It’s not going well?” Kira asked, 

“I need a new EPS relay just to get enough power to the main panels, some of the damage from the storm last night has compromised structural integrity and I haven’t even looked at that port nacelle just yet,” She brushed the hair out of her face and walked over to the three, “Hi, I’m Jadzia,”

“Yiraia… An EPS relay, what is that?”

“Ah, it’s a type of converter unit to distribute power to the different sub-sections of the craft and regulate how much power each receives,”

“I see! It’s like a khlosa cell! I might have one or two of those, what else do you think you might need?”

 

**§**

 

“Captain Sisko, I am honoured that you accepted my request for an audience,” Weyoun bowed his head as he stepped into Sisko’s office, the man himself was sat behind his desk aggressively throwing his baseball from one hand to the other, glaring daggers at the Vorta.

“Where’s your guard dog?”

“Hmm? Oh you mean Dukat,” Weyoun smiled broadly, though whether he found actual amusement in the joke, was hard to say. “He’s busy making preparations for our meeting with the Bajoran officials,”

“Really? You’d let Dukat do that? It won’t help you make any friends on Bajor to send _him_ with your advance party,”

“Oh, no, no, how foolish must you think I am, Captain? He’s laying out transport routes that the Dominion will take to and from the wormhole and other routes that we might need to take through Bajoran space which will cause the least offence possible,”

“There is nothing about Dukat capable of avoiding offence,” Sisko rebutted, he slapped his baseball down on to the table and rose to his feet, “Why are you here, Weyoun?”

“The Dominion and the Federation have never exactly been… close friends and I, for one, feel that we are missing an excellent opportunity by not repairing diplomatic relations,” 

“Your ‘diplomatic relations’ want us enslaved to the Founders,” 

“Not at all!” Weyoun hurried as he walked over towards the desk, “We might go about our organisational structures differently than you humans, but that doesn’t mean their isn't space for both our peoples to have an amicable relationship,” 

“You’re very name is The Dominon — domination, the opposite of freedom,”

“In human language, yes… I’m afraid it’s a rather… unfortunate coincidence,” Weyoun smiled again, his appearance of sheepishness would be convincing, if Sisko had never met him before. 

“I’m sure it is,”

“I think we both know that the threat of war grows a little closer each day and I think it is in the best interested of both parties for it to be avoided,”

“That I can agree with,”

“At present the Dominon has the strength to defeat the Federation — though the battle will be very long and very costly… not just in terms of lives but the stability of the alpha quadrant, you ability to continue your scientific exploration,”

“Weyoun if you are so sure of the Dominon’s victory, why are you trying so hard to dissuade it?”

“We might know very well how to win wars, Captain, but it doesn’t mean we _like_ them — they’re long and messy and limit supply,” Weyoun began as he took a few steps around the room, “I really think that there must be some amicable solution that will please both parties, after all, isn’t it worth trying to come up with a solution that will allow you and your officers to explore the gamma quadrant, that is what Starfleet is all about, isn’t it?” 

“You’re using a lot of words but you aren’t saying anything, Weyoun,”

“Well, translations can be tricky things, I’m not expected on Bajor until tomorrow, perhaps we can speak again before I leave. Good day, Captain,”Weyoun excused himself from the office and Sisko called out, 

“Mr Worf,”

“Captain,” The hulking klingon entered the office, 

“I’m sure you just saw Weyoun leave, he wants something but is wasting a lot of words in the process, I think his business on this station is with someone other than me. He was just in here for pleasantries. Between you and Odo make sure to keep an eye on him, from a distance,”

“Aye Captain, you will have every detail of his stay recorded,” Worf replied, clearly relishing the free-rein he was being given to tail the vorta, “

 

**§**

 

“Yiraia, welcome to Deep Space Nine, I am Captain Sisko,” 

“Thank you, Captain, this station is very… interesting,” 

“From someone who’s been living alone on a deserted moon for most of the past year, I’m sure it seems downright… _alien_ ,” He smiled genially, “I trust Doctor Bashir will show you around the station and see to it that you’re looked after. How long do you intend to stay?”

“A few days; I should get back and fix up my ship before too long,”

“Ah yes, Major Kira briefed me on that, when you’ve settled in a little, I’ll have Chief O’Brien come and see you and, if you know what spares you need, he can get them for you. I heard that the journey through the wormhole was a little rough,” 

“Yes it is a very strange anomaly, but Dr Bashir is quite competent.My technology is quite different from yours and whilst I am adept at minor repairs, I don’t know the exact specifications of some the equipment I need,” 

“I can always send the Chief back with you, if you want, of course; take a couple of days to relax and recover, then have the Doctor contact O’Brien when you’re ready,”

“I will, thank you,” She offered a short bow and left the office with the Doctor behind her, they stepped into the turbo lift and defended. “I don’t know whether I like how… _nice_ everyone is here. I know you’re being honest in the moment but it still makes me a bit… suspicious,” 

“What?” Julian asked, “How do you know we’re being honest?”

“I can feel that you mean what you’re saying to me,”

“You’re a telepath?”

“Not in the sense that I can read your thoughts, but I have the ability to sense emotions, intentions and alter neural patterns — I could suppress the memories of you ever having met me, if I felt like it,”

Julian raised his eyebrows in surprise, “I guess I shouldn’t make you angry, then,”

“Don’t worry — and I wouldn’t do it unless it was a very serious situation, if someone was going to commit murder or destroy a ship and _especially_ if someone was going to try and steal my food.” She deadpanned, glaring at the Doctor who was clearly unsure how to read her just yet; the turbo lift doors opened to find Garak stood there, 

“Garak!” Julian called, “This is Yiraia, she’s from the beta quadrant but we picked her up on the moon we were surveying,” 

“He means crashed on, hello,” 

Garak smiled warmly at her, “There’s hardly so much prestige to my name, I’m afraid to say, I’m just Garak,” 

“Hardly much prestige!” Julian scoffed, “He’s a tailor who knows classified Cardassian codes, can hack into—”

“Ah, there’s no reason to bore the lady, Doctor, with fanciful, though _greatly exaggerated_ tales,” Garak cut in; Yiraia looked carefully between them as they continued bickering, missing her glances.

“They are _hardly_ exaggerations! Honestly, there is an awful lot more to this man than he would have you believe!” Julian was clearly having a great time antagonising Garak, who walked past them into the turbo lift, 

“Well, today is not the day that you get any answers, my dear Doctor,” He said before the lift doors closed.

“We’re friends. Good friends!” Julian justified, “We have lunch together once or twice a week and it’s nice to have a good, um, sparing partner,” 

“Yes, I see it,” Yiraia looked at him,

“See? See what?”

“That you’re friends,” Yiraia answered simply, her face a picture of innocence, 

“Good… um… so, what about lunch?”

 

“Hello! I couldn’t help overhearing you, Doctor, and noticing that you’re with our new friend from the gamma quadrant,” Quark appeared and began instantly babbling, able to sniff a prospective con from a mile away.

“Beta quadrant,” Julian corrected,

“Whatever, if it’s lunch you’re after you’ve come to the right place! Quark’s Bar, Grill, Gaming House and Holosuite Arcade is at your disposal!” He swept his arm out behind him, pointing to his bar, “I’m Quark and for someone brand new to the station I can get you a great deal,”

“Deal?”

“For lunch or maybe a trip to the holosuites — I’ll bet the Doctor will be happy to show you the ropes,” A perverse grin spread over his lips and Yiraia merely raised an eyebrow, but walked on into the bar, carefully taking in the dabo wheels and patrons, the barflies and room in general. Quark positioned himself behind the bar.

“Ah, Quark, it’s not like that, I’m just showing her around the station and if you’re going to make remarks like that, then I think we can find somewhere _far better_ to get lunch,”

“Uh… no, no! Tell me, we can replicate any meal you want! On the house for you first visit to the alpha quadrant, I won’t even charge you in latinum, you can use the Doctor’s credits!” He really _was_ getting desperate,

“Latinum?” She asked, her voice full of confusion, “What for?” 

“For trade, what else?" Quark replied, “It’s the currency around here,”

“That seems… primitive,”

“ _Primitive?_ ” Quark scoffed, “Oh no, I assure you, a good business deal is at the height of accomplishment and skill, not just _anyone_ can swindle someone out of their life savings and make them believe they're getting a good deal,” He laughed, leaning on the bar with a broad grin over his face; she stared at him passively for a moment, before she smiled a deep, dangerous smile,

“It would seem, then, that you are _not_ a man to do business with,” She replied, narrowing her eyes at him,

“How dare you!” 

“Ah, she’s right about that, Brother,” Rom added, earning himself a slap,

“Get back to work!” 

“Quark, I want a _gri’hi,_ ” Yiraia barked, taking a seat on one of the stools,

“A what?”

“A low content, high volume, has bubbles,” She explained simply as possible, Quark nodded slowly, 

“…An ale,” Julian butted in taking the seat next to her, “Just get her an ale, Quark, and a jukha juice for me,” He poured the drinks and brought them a menu as well, 

“Thank you — we’ll take the drinks as complements of your hospitality,” Yiraia smiled genuinely at him, 

“What? No! These drinks cost money and—”

“You _did_ offer us a full lunch on the house, not five minutes ago,” Julian added,

Quark paused mid rebuttal, “Okay, I did… but you’re paying for lunch,” He directed pointedly at Julian.

Yiraia took a sip of her ale, “Well, it’s hardly a _gri’hi,_ but I guess it’s close enough,” She took a second sip and thought about it, “Close enough, thank you, Julian,” 

“You’re quite welcome.” 

“Hey guys,” Jadzia took the seat beside Julian, a giddy smile on her face, “Mind if we join you? This Lt Commander Worf _and the first I’ve been able to get him to come and socialise,”_ She whispered conspiratorially to Julian, who laughed in response. The klingon offered a short greeting nod to Yiraia before fixing his stare solidly out over the promenade.

 

**§**

 

Julian hadn’t set eyes on him in almost a week and it was starting to get to him; where the hell was Garak? He’d definitely implied that they would get together for at least a lunch once Julian got back from the gamma quadrant. Their thirty seconds in passing at the turbo lift hardly counted. But he was back, finally _and_ with an insightful and fascinating conversationalist no less, surely Garak would jump at the chance for a new sparring partner and one who had no pre-conceived notions of Cardassia or its people.Three times Julian had swung by the clothiers and every time Garak was either away or he was thoroughly busy with a customer and had made it clear that he did not have time for a chat. He was also more than curious about what Garak’s idea of a ‘sumptuous read’ was; just as he made it to the second level, he saw the Cardassian in question just leaving Quark’s.

“Garak! Garak,” Bashir called out as he hurried up to the Cardassian, “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you all week, are you free for lunch?” 

“Oh, hello Doctor! Yes I’m afraid I have been rather indisposed this week, business has picked up recently and it seems you have been rather busy with your new friend,” 

“Yiraia, yes, she’s new to the station, I think you’d like her, actually, she’s very perceptive,”

“Is that so?” Garak’s tone was perfectly civil, though there was definitely something _off_ about it,

“Yes… how about the three of us have lunch?” Bashir decided just to dig the hole a bit deeper, so what, “How about tomorrow?”

“No, I’m afraid Doctor, I just don’t have the time nor the constitution to be a third wheel,”

“Third wheel? What?”

“You are trying to pursue her, correct? Having finally decided that there is no one _already suitable_ aboard for you, you go off chasing a stranded woman from the beta quadrant,” Garak had begun to gesticulate as they walked, his voice raising just enough to attract some attention from the other people on the upper level of the promenade, 

“Oh, come on, it’s not like that, she’s the first person we’ve ever met from the beta quadrant and for _once_ , she isn’t a war mongering, power hungry, egotistical creep! She’s just an interesting person who’s curious about us and our culture, don’t you find it just the least bit refreshing instead of all of the arrogant, _war-mongering_ ,” He looked pointedly at Weyoun hurrying after Odo on the lower level, “Species we have encountered in the gamma quadrant?” Julian tried to justify, Garak stopped dead, almost causing him to crash right into the back of him, 

“You know, it really isn’t quite as refreshing as I would have thought, she seems friendly, yes but you don’t _know_ that she’s friendly.” Garak began, appearing more incensed with every word he spoke, “Doctor, you have no idea if that woman is the herald of a new destructive force far greater than the Dominon or if she’s an exceptionally skilled Changeling or maybe, she is _just_ an alien far from home,” 

“Well, you’ve got to have some excitement,” Julian rebutted, grinned broadly though his joke fell flat as Garak merely offered a saccharine smile, 

“Until next time, Doctor,” And walked away. 

“Oof! Just got dumped?” Jadzia appeared next to him,

“What? No, he just… seems really off,”

“Well, that’s not too surprising, when you thought you were special to someone but they find someone new and completely ignore you, that’s gotta sting,”

“Jadzia what are you talking about?” 

“Julian.” She stared directly at him for a moment, “Nevermind, you need to figure it out. How’s Yiraia?” 

“Uh… fine, good, I think she’s just gone back to her quarters to rest… do you fancy lunch with me?” 

“Nope, sorry, gotta collect the scans we took from the gamma quadrant, the damaged runabout corrupted some of the data so its taken a while for the computer to analyse.”

“Oh,”  


“Don’t worry about Garak, just show him you still care and he’ll come around — why don’t you take lunch to his shop?”

“We’re not—that’s—that wouldn’t—” 

“Good luck,” Dax smiled and walked off. Why were they so convinced there was something going on between him and Garak? And if the man could barely hold a polite conversation with him, then he probably wouldn’t accept a drop-by lunch. Julian really didn’t need to be made into a bigger fool than he clearly looked to his friends.

 

**§**

 

Yiraia heard the doors to her quarters closing behind her, she still missed the freedom of the trees — but there was something about this station — this place with these people that it didn’t feel nearly as claustrophobic as she’d initially suspected. She walked over to the chair and unclasped her tunic,

“Hello?” A deep voice called and she span on the spot, feeing her pulse skyrocket, “Whoa, hey, it’s all right, it’s just me, Sisko,”

“I… why are you in my quarters?” She kept her fighting stance — he certainly did look different, he was in a white tunic and trousers, though he appeared physically the same, 

“This… is going to sound very confusing, but I’ve been on… in a different layer of space, which contains different physical and temporal conditions — I’ve been trapped there,”Sisko took a minute to rub a hand over his face, over his head, as if remembering how his body felt, “I am not the Sisko you met today, I am years…. I don’t know how many years ahead of him but I _felt_ your presence through the wormhole! It was like… the call of an old friend rousing me from a deep sleep, I’m ready to come back, to be with my son, with Kassidy, my baby and all of the friends I made here on DS9 but I just _can’t_ find my way back to my time… to the moment I left — just before, even!” 

Yiraia finally relaxed a little realising that the man was being genuine, “I don’t know, I’m sorry, I don’t know what period in time—”

“Okay, what kind of uniforms are my people wearing? Coloured shoulders with black chests or grey shoulders with black chests?”

“Grey shoulders,”

“Okay, okay… ah… are you familiar with two of my officers Jadzia Dax and Worf?” 

“I know Jadzia, Worf… tall, angry,”

“Yes!” Sisko laughed, “Are they together? Are they married?”

“Uh… no but its pretty clear Jadzia wants him, as for his interest…” Yiraia shrugged, mating rituals were fairly universal, it seemed to her,

“Don’t worry about that, they’ll get to it when they’re ready,” Sisko dismissed with a wave of his hand,“That narrows things down, I still have about another three years… only three years out, that’s not bad, better than the thirty in the past I was just before!” He said, “I was a messy three year old! But no worse than Jake at that age, I suppose,” He seemed to talking more to himself at this stage,

“Captain—”

“Call me Ben,” He waved his hand,

“Ben, I think it might be wise to call—”

“No, no, no!” He hurried, “At this point in time, no one on this station has any idea of the fact that I was taken by the Prophets three years in the future, if they have any idea that I was here, it would interfere with the timeline,”

“But, I can’t help you — how did you get here? What if you can’t—“

“Ah, I just have a few minutes, then I’ll go and try again,”

“Are you controlling this… moving?”

“In a way, I’m just not very good at it,” He chuckled, “Ah, I guess I should go, I’m sorry I just ‘dropped in’ on you,”

“Wait, wait, if you remember me, then why can’t you remember what period in time this is? I only plan to be on this station for a couple of days,”

Ben only offered a wry grin, “Well you’ll see. Thanks,” He nodded at her and disappeared. Yiraia took a breath and headed out of the door, she hurried down the corridor but again he appeared in front of her and she ran right into him, 

“Easy, easy,” He helped her steady herself and she took a step back,

“You haven’t been gone thirty seconds,” She explained,

“What?” 

“Yeah, bye!” A voice called from around the corner, seconds before its owner appeared, 

“Jake-o!” Ben called suddenly, attracting the attention of his son, taking a few steps towards him with an enormous grin on his face.

“Dad? What are you doing here? Why are you dressed like that?”  


“It doesn’t matter, c’mere,” He reached out and enveloped his son in a hug, inhaling deeply, “I missed you,” 

“You… saw me this morning?”

“Yeah, but I still missed you,”

“Um, are you feeling okay?” Jake asked, pulling away from his dad,

“Never better,” He regarded his son, “Go on, I’m sure you have ‘stuff’ to do, I’ll see you tonight,” He clapped his son on his upper ams and the boy grinned,

“We’re still having jambalaya, right?”

“I can’t wait! Oh, but, you might have to remind me, it’s already been kind of a stressful day,”

“Okay, Dad,” Jake grinned, trusting his father implicitly, 

“Go on,” Ben rubbed his hand over his son’s head and gave it a gently push, Jake nodded happily before he walked off around the corner, “I’d forgotten how little he was back then—is now, oh, I’ve missed Jake, for him I’ve been gone both for five minutes and the rest of his life… I want to watch my son grow up, have a family, find his voice as a writer… I want to meet my baby, to see Kassy again…”

“What about interfering with the timeline?” Yiraia asked, clearly unimpressed,

“Ah, you’re allowed a slip up every now and then; the point is why was I brought back here, to _you_ again?”

“Just try and disappear again, maybe you… miscalculated?”

“It’s possible,” Sisko laughed, “It would help if I had a sense of time!” He took a deep breath and disappeared again, Yiraia staying the corridor looking cautiously around for several minutes, randomly spinning to look behind her to see if she would be haunted by the temporally displaced double of the station’s Captain for the rest of her life. Five minutes past and he wasn’t back… hard to say whether that was good news or not.

..

.


	2. Things Are Just As They Seem

_A/n — does anyone else think it’s weird that Garak spoke so fondly/highly of Jadzia when he first met Ezri, yet we see never seem to see a scene with Garak and Jadzia interacting directly? (I appreciate that his scathing words could well have been purely fuelled by spite rather than truth to hurt Ezri for her prodding) but I do like to think that Garak and Jadzia held a respect for one another due to their respective info-networks XD  
_

_Also my thanks to everyone who’s left kudos/comments ^_ ^ Sorry this update has taken so long, life a mess right now >.>_

 

**The Metier // 02 // Things Are Just As They Seem**

 

“Good morning, Lieutenant,” The plain, simple tailor fell into step beside Dax as she walked down the corridor, both on their way to work,

“Morning, what can I do for you?”

“I was wondering if you’d happen to know the exact moment that Weyoun decided to pay a visit our Captain yesterday? How long did they spend speaking?”

“And why would you want to know that?” Jadzia asked, casting a sideways, suspicious glance at Garak, “That’s some _oddly_ specific information,” 

Garak let out a deep breath, “All right, will hearing about a certain Devonian who’s planning on bringing in a shipment of—“

“Nah, not juicy enough,” Jadzia dismissed, 

“The Provisional Government—”

“C’mon! I heard about that a _week_ ago, who do you think I am, Quark? Give me something _good_ ,” Jadzia pleaded, “Have you any idea how boring Ops is at the moment?”

“Oh I’m sure I haven’t, Lieutenant, you see just yesterday a Tarkelian prince asked me to stitch him a suit made from Aldavian crest-weevil silk — a supply he thankfully brought with him and it really was _delightful!_ But at that very moment, a wild targ barrelled into the shop and headed _straight_ for the fresh shipment of Betazoid flower weave, though not before charging the unfortunate prince into one of the changing rooms and left him cowering there like a… you’re not even listening are you?” Garak cut himself off,

“No, not really, I was just wondering exactly how far you were going to take that,” She grinned at him. 

“What will appease you, Lieutenant, enough to give me the information that I want?” Not many people knew just how adept Garak was at cutting his losses,

“Tell me what’s happening with you and Julian,”

“The Doctor? What about me and him?” 

“Oh come on, don’t be coy!” They stopped, awaiting the turbo lift, “I saw you weren’t exactly pleased with him yesterday, have you broken up?”

“‘Broken up’ is rather inappropriate language, Lieutenant, we have lunch once a week and that’s all. He’s just enamoured with that alien woman he brought back and we haven't had time to catch up,”

“Garak,” Jadzia looked pointedly at him, “You’re going to have to do better than that if you want anything out of me. I mean, come on, you were giving him an earful yesterday, are you jealous?” Her eyes glittered with the promise of juicy, juicy details,

“What, exactly, do I have to be jealous of?” Garak rebutted, the picture of composition,

“I think—” The turbo lift doors opened on cue and Jadzia thankfully bit off the last of her sentence as they saw that a few junior engineers were present; they both stepped on and pretended not to know each other until the others got off at their stop and they were alone again,

“Exactly what sordid details are you after?” Garak asked as soon as the doors closed again, “That I flung Julian out of our shared quarters after we argued for _hours_ after he brought that woman back to the station—” This time Garak was interrupted by Jadzia’s barking laughter as she nearly bent double, Garak couldn’t resist a short grin himself,

“A-at least _try_ to make it believable!” She managed between peals, “Oh, oh, but not bad though,” The doors opened and she stepped out, “I might just believe you next time, nineteen minutes and fifty-eight seconds,” She said just as the doors closed. _Nineteen minutes, fifty-eight seconds, very specific, very useful segment of time_ Garak thought to himself, _I wonder what the full power of Dominion — along with a desperate Cardassia could do with that time?_

…

"Oh, hey, Yiraia, I’ve been meaning to catch up with you,” It was Jadzia,

“Hello,”

“It’s just about yesterday, whilst we were going through the wormhole, I’ve been running an analysis on the runabout and it’s internal sensors have revealed something strange, the ride was really rough and you blacked out, do you remember anything else? Did you feel strange at all? It’s just that there were unusually high levels of neutrinos and chronitons inside the cabin, concentrated around your position,”

“Neutrinos? I thought they were normal inside wormholes,”

“They are, but this wormhole is a bit unusual, it has none of the tell-tale markers, we suspect that it’s artificially created,” 

“Really? Is that even possible?”

“Yeah, hence an increase in neutrinos is a little unusual,”

“Hmm… unfortunately, astrophysics isn’t my strong point and I have no idea why or of what significance that might be,” 

“Well don’t worry,” Jazdzia laughed, “I _am_ an atrsophysicist, my point is just that I wonder if you’d mind if I took a scan of you again, just to see if your neutrino count has returned to normal,” Jadzia explained as she pulled her tricroder out, Yiraia nodded, happy to allow the Trill to scan her. Jadzia’s resulting expression was not encouraging.

“What?”

“Your neutrino count has returned to normal but you still have incredibly high levels of chronitons… has anything weird been happening?”

“Ah…”

“Like… feeling like you were still seeing things from the day before? Or—”

“Eredni!” A gruff voice barked from somewhere, Yiraia span around to find a Jem’Hadar striding towards her, his weapon raised, “Eredni!”

She reacted instantly, partially withdrawing the weapon at her waist, “If you know my species on sight, then you know what this weapon can do!” She shouted, crouching to an attack, 

“Whoa, hey—” Jadzia tried to intervene, but the soldier fired, Yiraia withdrew her weapon, and swept the blade in a soaring arc, catching the energy blast in a dazzling light, absorbing it cleanly. The blade crackled for a moment before glowing brighter than it had before, Yiraia brought the blade around, to finish the sweeping motion, she brought it back up to point directly at the offending Jem’Hadar,

“Stop!” Weyoun appeared from behind the enormous Jem’Hadar, “Stand down! I’m so sorry, Croesus..?”

“Yiraia. I hadn’t realised that the Dominon had extended its reach all the way to the alpha quadrant, our last predictions suggested you wouldn’t be here for another half-century,”

Weyoun smiled wanly, “Interesting. Well, the wormhole was certainly nothing that either quadrant had predicted, but here we are. What brings you here?”

“I might feel more inclined to talk were you of a higher rank,” Yiraia rebutted and the Jem’Hadar lifted his rifle again but Yiraia’s energy sword was always swung, solidifying seconds before it struck contact with enough force to sweep the Jem’Hadar’s rifle out of his hands and it skittered across the floor.

“All right!” Sisko’s deep, booming voice appeared from nowhere, “That’s enough! There will be no fighting on this Promenade! Weyoun you will get your solider under control, I think that it is high time you both left,”

“Captain, please, this was all a minor misunderstanding,” Weyoun tried to interject, 

“I believe this is your’s,” Odo held the phase rifle in his hand, “But I will take this opportunity to remind you that weapons are not allowed on the Promenade. Captain, what would you like me to do with them?”

“See to it that they leave the station; Weyoun, I think that its time you continued on your way to Bajor, your business in this quadrant is with them, not DS9,”

“Ah, but I had been hoping to speak with—”

“I’m sure we’ll have the opportunity to talk again very soon,” Sisko pressed, his eyes boring into Weyoun’s. The vorta hesitated a moment, his eyes glancing at Yiraia before he smiled and nodded graciously,

“Very well,” He turned and walked away, accompanied by Odo and his Jem’Hadar; 

“Benjamin what are you wearing?” Jadzia asked, her attention entirely taken by the proceedings, and the appearance of her Captain in a white tunic and trousers, stood their with her tricorder still in her hand and a confused look on her face;

“Don’t worry about it, check with Odo when Weyoun and all Jem’Hadar are off the station, I’m going to get changed, then I think you,” He glared at Yiraia, “Should explain exactly what relationship you — or at least your species — has with the Dominon,” He ordered before walking away,

“What was that about?” Jadzia seemed to whisper more to herself, absentmindedly closing her tricorder, “Come with me to Ops.”

 

“B—Captain Sisko sure is quick to change,” Yiraia commented as they stepped out of the tubolift and saw he was still in his office, behind his desk as if he’d been there all morning,

“He sure is,” Jadzia replied as she marched straight up the steps and into his office, “Benjamin how did you get back from the Promenade so quickly?”

“What?” He looked up, “Please come in! And I haven’t been out of this office since I got here half an hour ago, _unlike_ someone,” 

“I know, I’m sorry, Yiraia and I just had a confrontation with Weyoun and a Jem’Hadar on the Promenade,”

“What?”

“I think, I should explain, Lieutenant,” Yiraia interrupted, stepping inside the office, “My species has long known about the Dominon, though I am surprised to find them in this quadrant,” 

“Really?”

“We are not on amiable terms, though I would like to believe that our issues will not impact Dominion-Federation relations.” Yiraia explained though Sisko merely narrowed his eyes slightly, 

“You didn’t feel a need to mention this before?” He asked, 

“I hadn’t expected to see any Jem’Hadar on this station, I had no idea that your two species had even met,” 

“Its been my experience so far, that every species in the Gamma quadrant knows about the Jem’Hadar and it unusual for someone to be ignorant of them.”

“I’m not from the Gamma quadrant, I was just visiting,”

...

“What was that about?” O’Brien asked Jadzia took her station,

“I don’t know,” She replied, sitting down and unfurling her tricorder, she set it on the console to begin downloading its data; the data for Yiraia showed an elevated cronoton level, suggesting that whatever had happened in the wormhole, was still having some impact on her. The data for the Captain, however, was far more disturbing — evaluated chroniton levels, biometric data that did not reflect the man who sat in the office behind her — he was at least four years older, contained numerous scars and healed injuries that seemed recent and the neural data was certainly very different. “Dax to Bashir, when you have a moment Julian, there’s some scans I need to run by you,”

“Bashir here, I’m free for about half-an-hour do you need me in Ops?”

“No, I’ll meet you in the infirmary,”

“Understood.” 

“You’re right, these bioreadings aren’t right at all, body-weight, fat to muscle ratio and his indicated age is almost three years older than the last check-up the Captain had last month,” Bashir peered at the screen read out, not quite believing his eyes, “When did you say that you took these readings?”

“This morning, when Yiraia had the altercation with the Jem’Hadar, I was scanning her to see if her chroniton count had changed when Ben broke up the fight, I accidentally took scans of him. He was in a white tunic and trousers, though but as soon as I got back t to the bridge, maybe five minutes later he was in his office still arguing with Starfleet,”

“You think it was a different Sisko?”

“That’s what the scans tell me, I ran a diagnostic on the tricorder, it showed nothing wrong,” She answered,

Bashir took a deep breath and swivelled in his seat to looked back at Jadzia, “We need a scan of the Captain at soon as possible… do you think we should tell him what we’ve found?”

“We need to find that _other_ Sisko first… what if he is a temporally displaced version of our Captain and to tell our present Captain Sisko what’s happening might alter events?”

“That… might be getting a bit far ahead,”

“Well, he played the part of our present Captain, if he was some sort of shape-shifter or pretender, he didn’t do a very good job… he was trying very hard to convince everyone he _was_ the Captain of the station, but only to leave his bio-readings so off like that is just sloppy,”

“Maybe he didn’t expect someone to have a tricorder handy at the time?”

“On a Starfleet run station?” Jadzia rebutted, 

“I take your point. I’ll call the Captain in for another physical and I’ll compare them in detail just to see if we’ve missed something, until then, keep your eyes open for Sisko dressed in white and if you get the chance, talk to him,”

“Yiraia did have an elevated chroniton level at the time, maybe if that Ben has been displaced somehow, she’s acting as some sort of beacon,”

“Have you cross-referenced with the station’s sensors?” 

“They showed nothing, but I’m waiting on the results of a more detailed scan,” Jadzia explained; Bashir nodded,

“I’ll try and find Yiraia, if Sisko had been temporally displaced and she is acting as some sort of beacon then there’s a good chance he’ll keep appearing near her. It’s worth a shot, at least,” 

“I guess so,” Jadzia agreed, “When I find out more I’ll contact you, but I think we should keep this between us, at least until we find out a bit more information,”

“Agreed,” Bashir nodded, 

“Sisko to Dax, I need to speak with you in my office,” Sisko’s voice cut in,

“Understood, I’ll be right there,” Jadzia replied and tapped her comm badge, sharing one last glance with Julian she took herself off to Ops.

…

“Please have a seat,” Sisko gestured to the seat opposite him, “Let’s start from the top, what exactly happened on the Promenade? Lieutenant Dax mentioned an incident?”

“Yes, my people have had plenty of dealings with the Dominion and unfortunately, they are not a people very inclinded to forget humiliations,”

“You can defeat the Dominion?”

“At a high cost, we would rather not engage them, their troops are skilled and many in number,” 

“Indeed they are; but I still don’t quite understand why the Jem’Hadar solider had such a reaction to you, or was your weapon drawn before you encountered them?”

“No, Captain, I only drew it when he approached with his weapon raised,”

“And why was that?”

“I don’t know, but as I’ve said, Captain, the Eredni and Jem’Hadar have been enemies for a very long time, it hard to forget a blood-feud, even so far away from our home borders as this,” Yiraia explained easily and Sisko offered a strange half-nod,as if accepting her premise, 

“All right, I will ask you to avoid all contact with any Jem’Hadar who might be on this station for as long as you plan on staying with us, I don’t want to hear of another altercation,”

“I understand, Captain,”

“Dismissed,” Yiraia walked out of his office and Sisko tapped his comm badge.

 

“Captain?” Jadzia walked into his office a few minutes later,

“Tell me something, that mishap on the promenade earlier, did Yiraia raise her weapon before or after the Jem’Hadar approached her?”

“After, we were talking, I heard a shout and Weyoun’s Jem’Hadar approached with his phaser rifle raised,”

“Good, it seems she’s telling the truth about something,” Sisko watched his science officer very carefully, “I received an interesting security report from Odo a few minutes ago, about this altercation and he seems adamant that I was present for the events, but I am _quite sure_ that I have not left this officer all morning,”

Jadzia took a deep breath, “I hesitated to tell you—”

“Tell me what?”

“You were there… some version of you, anyway, you dressed all in white and you… at least, they were doing their best impression of Captain of this station and doing it very well, too,”

“What?”

“I was scanning Yiraia at the time for chronitons when the Jem’Hadar appeared and _that_ Ben… the life signs registered as you but… from three years in the future.”

**§**

“Good morning, Mr Garak,” Yiraia greeted as she walked into the clothiers, “My name is Yiraia, though I suppose you already knew that,”

“I did indeed, what can I do for you?”

“I would like to commission a new tunic from you, if I may. Its basic structure the same as what I am wearing, but with different insignia, for which I can offer exact specifications.”

“I see,” Garak glanced her up and down, “Do you have a preference for material?” He stepped closer to her, his hand reaching to her sleeve,

“It will need to be the same as this, I can program the computer to replicate when you’ll need,”

“It feels very similar to a vulcan thread,”

“Well, it will have to be good enough to fool a Founder,”

“A Founder?” Garak asked, his face the picture of innocence, “Are they part of the Dominion?”  
“Garak, I know you know _all_ about the Founders; the Eredni intelligence service would have offered a fine challenge to Obsidian Order, at its height,”

“Well, then, I suppose we should stick with what you can replicate,” Garak replied, he turned and walked over to his desk to pick up his measure, “When will you need the garment to be complete?” He began to take some measurements, 

“Will four days be enough time?”

“It should be, depending on how detailed the insignia are; are they also embroidered?”

“Yes; they are of the same size as these, with a little more detailing,”

“Four days will be fine.”

“Good, I’ll bring them by later today; what payment do you require?”

“Something tells me that you don’t carry latinum,”

“No, but Quark did explain the concept to me,”

“How encouraging,” Garak muttered to himself as he noted down her sizes, “How about some information, then? I’m curious to know exactly how and for what purpose you intend on fooling a Changeling — would it happen to be that female Changeling?”

“As a matter of fact, it would be, but the specifics of which I cannot risk being discovered. What else are you curious about? How I know about the Dominion? How I came to be in this part of space?” 

“No,” Garak replied, “I’m afraid that isn’t nearly so interesting. Why don’t you tell me what relationship you or your species have with the Founders and why you think _fooling_ them will help you, it seems you have an impressive amount of power,” 

Yiraia looked at him carefully, as if considering the offer, 

“I close my shop to patrons at 1830 and usually spend an hour clearing up, working on a few orders, but I sure I could set aside some time to hear your tale over a bottle of kanar, or whatever sort of drink you might prefer, I assure you, we will not be overheard by a soul,” 

“Interesting and why should I believe that you won’t tell someone else what I have told you?” Yiraia asked,

  
Garak smiled his deep knowing smile, “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed yet, but I am the only Cardassian on this station and it isn’t in my nature to share unfettered truths with just _anyone_ ,” 

“I suppose that is becoming of a former operative,” Yiraia agreed, “All right, I can spare you at least one good story,”

“Excellent! Will tonight be acceptable?”

“Perfectly, until then, Mr Garak,” 

“Until then,” Garak bowed as Yiraia left his shop. He had some planning to do. He cross referenced a good number of coincident events, Weyoun’s talk with Sisko, the stardate Bashir met Yiraia, when the crossed they wormhole and a handful of other things his ears on Cardassia had informed him of, preparing himself a grounding for whatever kind of tale Yiraia was likely to spin later. 

 

“Good afternoon, Constable,” 

“Mr Garak,” Odo nodded, “What can I do for you?”

“Would you care to have an afternoon snack with me? _Figuratively,_ of course.”

“I have to speak with Captain Sisko at 1500 but I have no plans until then,”

“I won’t take much of your time, Constable,” Garak replied as they both walked towards the replimat, “I am curious about something, do you have much in the way of an intelligence network for the communications traffic between the Dominion and Cardassia?”

“I find it odd you’d ask me that, you seem to have an impressive intelligence source yourself,”

“Yes, but I’m afraid most of my sources have found their meek voices drowned out by the Dominion,” The replimat was pleasingly empty as they both took a quiet table, after Garak had fetched himself a small plate of kh’ital, a Cardassian confection,

“What is it that you want to know?” 

“Is there any communications regarding our new guest?”

“The Eredni? A few, the Dominion are clearly aware of her species and familiar enough to know her rank and status at a glance,”

“Does it suggest her species holds an outpost or a regular presence in the Gamma quadrant?”

“I can’t be certain, though I suspect some degree of regular contact, given the tone of the messages,”

“What tone would that be?” 

“Distrust, dislike, caution,”

“Fitting, I heard about that little altercation on the promenade,” Garak took a bite of his dish, chewing thoughtfully, 

“Hmm, well she’s shown little hostility towards anyone else aboard though I must admit, I don’t share Captain Sisko’s blazé attitude towards her,” Odo crossed his arms, as if to bolster his own point of view, Garak offered a noncommittal nod before taking a sip of his raktajino,

“I assume the Dominion don’t actually consider the Eredni a serious threat?”

“No, but I am under the impression that they keep a careful eye on them, as many humanoids would a particularly large snake,” Odo replied, “Is there any reason why you want to know these things?”

“Just curious, she placed an order with me yesterday,”

“Really?”

“For a new shirt, much like the one she currently wears,” 

“Interesting, how does she intend on paying you? She doesn’t use latinum, you know,”

“So I’m well aware,” Garak paused to finished off his meal, “I agreed to make her the garment in exact for some factual information,”

“Are you sure she knows it supposed to be factual?” Odo rebutted earning a saccharine smile from Garak,

“I’ll have you know Constable, I pride myself on being able to detect wether someone is telling me the truth or not,”

“In species you are familiar with?”

“In _all_ species, Constable, humanoids — as I’m sure you’re aware — don’t always have so many differences between them,”

“That is something I’m not sure I ever expected to hear from you, Mr Garak. Just when does she plan of regaling you with her _factual information?_ ” 

_“_ Now Constable, you wouldn’t plan on spying on us, would you?”

“If it proves to be in the best interest of station security,”

“And you think I wouldn’t come to you if I believed there was truly a threat to the station?”

“I think you will serve your own best interests first, Mr Garak,”

“I consider it one of my interests to ensure that this station that I call home and run my business from, remains in tact,”

Odo rose to his feet, “I’ll be keeping my eye on your shop, Mr Garak, but if you happen to hear anything that might interest me, please feel free to let me know,”

“You can rest assured, Constable,” Garak smiled in return before Odo departed. 

…

Garak waited patiently for almost an hour after he’d locked up and he was beginning to get impatient; she might well be know how talk big but she was not, apparently, all that concerned with punctuality.He’d already cracked open his bottle of kanar to help himself to a glass — he was interested to hear her tale, but after-hours in his shop always grated on him. For a station as busy as DS9 there was invariably someone who would show blatant disrespect for his office-hours or was drunk and decided an argument with a Cardassian tailor was just the thing to finish off an evening-out. 

But worse, the shop with its doors closed and the dimmed lights of the promenade made him feel more alone than at any other time; left alone with the lifeless material of his own creation it reminding him, somehow, of just how far away he was from everything familiar and everything that he missed. There were many who liked to call Cardassia a cold place, full of hard lines and purposeful architecture but Elim knew better, those lines were to accentuate the small pockets of green to be found. Cardassia Prime had a central band of desert that stretched its circumference, but just off the equatorial latitude, were wonderful, temperate rainforests which joined that gap to the tropical southern pole, though so luscious and dense did the foliage grow it was little more than a tourist destination. Elosian Orchids always grew best just off the equator—

The doors opened, drawing Garak from his revere,

“Um, Garak, do you have a minute?” It was Julian,

“My Dear Doctor, this is a late hour for you to be calling,” Garak rose to his feet, “I’m afraid the shop is closed,” 

“Ah, I know… I just… wanted to see if you were all right,”

“Me? Well its kind of you to ask, but I’m perfectly fine,”

“Its just, you seem to have been… avoiding me recently,” Julian’s eyes seemed to find everything of interest to look at except Elim, 

“Well things have been busy and you’ve had your new friend to look after, I hear she was in a bit of trouble recently,” He explained as Julian’s eyes flashed over to him,

“Are you seriously telling me that you’re jealous?”

“Such an accusation, Doctor! You really think I’m jealous of you making a new friend? You really—” A peal of laugher coloured his sentence, “—do have an over-inflated sense of self-importance!” 

“Garak! I just mean that whenever I’ve tried to talk to you, you’ve always seemed to have somewhere else you’d rather be and it’s been my experience up until very recently that you’ve been happy to chat with me for a while,” He rambled, trying to defend himself.

“Well, its as I said, Doctor, I’m very busy at the moment, I’ve had a lot of orders in recently,”

“Then why do I get the feeling that you wish I wan’t here?”

“Because I have a several orders that I need to finish before tomorrow and I would like the chance to catch at least _some_ sleep,” 

“Oh… well… then I guess I’ll leave you in peace,” Julian backtracked instantly, “Sorry,” He turned and stepped out of the door; Elim resisted the pang of guilt at his dejected friend,

A sudden voice had him start, “I thought you said it would be quiet at this hour?” Yiraia spoke from the shadows; Garak composed himself and walked over to his door, locking it, 

“I’m sorry to say, it can be hard to predict the actions of friends sometimes, but we won’t be disturbed from here. Please have a seat, would you like some kanar?”

“Kanar?” 

“It’s a spirit,from Cardassia,”

“A small glass, please,” Yiraia replied, taking the available seat area his workbench; the half-light was barely enough to see by, but set the right tone for such a clandestine meeting as this.

..

.


End file.
